The Legend of Diabolos and Reznikoff

The likeness of Reznikoff (left) is carved into UC's exterior near Croft Chapter House. The carvings are credited to Diabolos (right).

Ivan Reznikoff was a huge man, with a violent temper. Paul Diabolos was a sculptor who worked next to him; pale, young, handsome and of a subtle nature.

Their physical appearance and temperament were reflected in their work. Diabolos is credited with much of the best-carved work in the east wing of University College, destroyed in the fire of 1890. He is also said to have used Reznikoff’s hideous face, “more like a baboon than a man,” as a model for one of the two gargoyles by the chimney between Croft Chapter House and the small cloister. Meanwhile, around the corner, Reznikoff toiled, drinking deeply from a flask he kept inside his shirt. He is said to have sculpted a gargoyle in the chimney that showed all the earmarks of a drunkard’s touch.

The two were in love with the same woman. Reznikoff had promised to marry her, and they had saved together for this. But Diabolos persuaded her to go west with him, taking Reznikoff’s savings with them. Before they could leave, they were discovered, and on the empty worksite the two men confronted each other.

In the confines of the cloister at the southwest corner of the building, with a workman’s axe, Reznikoff attacked Diabolos, who carried a dagger. They found and wrestled like wild animals, until the giant Reznikoff backed his enemy against the door and struck with his axe. But Diabolos had clutched the iron handle of the door, and, as the blow descended, the door swung inwards. The axe cut deep into the oak door where the scar is still to be seen.

Diabolos fled through the unfinished interior of the building, pursued by Reznikof… along the corridor, into entrance hall and up one flight of stone steps to the second floor. There he listened as his enemy climbed slowly towards him. He could not escape down the opposite flight of steps which were blocked with mason’s tools, piles of boards, and broken stone.

He stood for several seconds thinking that his time had come, but turned and ran up the wooden stairs to the third floor, where he hid in the angle of the tower. When Reznikoff came into view, he pounced on him with his dagger. There was a sudden thud, a groan, and Ivan Reznikoff was stretched dead on the floor.

To conceal the body, Diabolos threw it down the well, over which the circular staircase leading to the top of the tower was built. What became of Diabolos and the woman, we do not know.

But Reznikoff haunted the vicinity of the tower and Chapter House for many years, and it was only since his bones were found after the fire of 1890 and were consigned to a decent grave, that he left the College in peace. His burial place is said to be under a maple tree at the northeast corner of the quadrangle. Rumour also has it that his head was never found, and that a skull discovered much later may belong to him.

However, even today people report that late at night in the College, there are creaking and banging noises that cannot be explained…

Adapted from Richardson, D. A Not Unsightly Building: University College and Its History. (Mosaic Press, 1990, p. 146.)